Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Wednesday 29 September 1999

Scottish Executive

Finance

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to assist Inverclyde Council in dealing with issues identified in the 1996-97 audit report which have not yet been successfully progressed, including the errors and differences in financial statements, the poor documentation to support accounts, the unreliability of fixed asset valuation and the unsatisfactory state of control arrangements in key areas, including banking reconciliations.

Mr Jack McConnell: This is a matter for Inverclyde Council. We expect the council to address its difficulties and implement all recommendations that the external auditor made in the 1996-97 audit report. The external auditor will follow up these recommendations through the audit process.

Fisheries

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs are generated by the Scottish salmon farming industry in Scotland and how many of those are in the Highlands and Islands.

Mr John Home Robertson: Direct and indirect employment in 1997 was estimated to be 6,330 full-time equivalent jobs, of which around 75% are in the Highlands and Islands.

Fisheries

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what is the total annual value of the Scottish salmon farming industry’s output and also the export value.

Mr John Home Robertson: The turnover of the Scottish salmon farming industry in 1997 was estimated to be £265m by farmers and £243m by processors. Around 40 per cent of production is exported.

Fisheries

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take steps which would permit salmon farmers to obtain insurance cover for stocks destroyed by the Diseases of Fish (Control) Regulations 1994 (S1 1994/1447).

Mr John Home Robertson: The insurance industry has indicated that it is not prepared to provide cover for Infectious Salmon Anaemia so long as EU legislation dictates immediate intervention by Government and compulsory slaughter of all fish when disease is confirmed.

  We are exploring the possibility of greater flexibility in the rules which might, over time, provide the incentive for involvement by the insurance industry.

Fisheries

Mr Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will designate the upper Forth Estuary as a sea fish nursery area and ban all net fishing other than for salmon.

Mr John Home Robertson: The Scottish Executive currently has no plans at present to designate the upper Forth Estuary as a sea fish nursery area. My officials are consulting with the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and with scientific advisers on current sea fishing practices in the area and will write to the Member in due course. A copy of this letter will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

Fisheries

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered article 16 section 1A of the Draft Regulations for Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance and, if so, whether this would permit the payment of compensation to scallop farmers in the period from 2000 to 2006.

Mr John Home Robertson: It has not been the policy of successive governments to compensate for losses incurred due to disease or other natural phenomena in the fisheries sector. However, the Scottish Executive is currently consulting on the terms of EU structural assistance in the fisheries sector for the future. The availability of funds will be limited, but the option of compensation for scallop farmers could be considered in the course of this consultation.

Fisheries

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-383 by Mr John Home Robertson on 2 July, how many Scottish Fishery Protection Agency (SFPA) crew hours per annum the surveillance effort in the 6,000 square miles of previously SFPA patrolled seas, which now fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Royal Navy, involved prior to this transfer of responsibility and whether it will confirm that the SFPA’s workforce will not be reduced as a consequence of this transfer.

Mr John Home Robertson: As I explained in my reply of 2 July, the area in question required very little attention from our patrol vessels. That judgement was based on traditional fishing patterns and information from aerial surveillance. Only six fishing vessels were sighted in that area by the SFPA’s patrol vessels during the year ending 31 March 99.

  It is not possible to calculate this patrol effort in terms of precise crew hours.

  The transfer of their minimal patrolling responsibility to the Royal Navy will have no significant effect on the workload of the SFPA.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made or intends to make of the economic impact on Scotland’s coastal communities of the bans on scallop fishing introduced as a result of Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning.

Mr John Home Robertson: The Scottish Executive is assessing the economic impact through analysis of information on landings of scallops, and contacts with the catching and processing industries. We have been involved with Highlands and Islands Enterprise on a recent analysis by consultants which was reported to the Rural Affairs Committee on 21 September. We will continue to monitor the position during the ban.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what has been the economic contribution to Scotland of the aquaculture industry, including any relevant statistics, over the last three years.

Mr John Home Robertson: Some 92 per cent of UK aquaculture production is based in Scotland where it makes a major contribution to the rural economy, particularly in the Highlands and Islands. Farm gate values were around £260-275m in 1996 and 1997 (data for 1998 is not currently available), supporting around 2200-2300 direct jobs, full-time and part-time. The processing sector adds around a further £230-240m annually.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what has been the economic value of the inshore fishing industry, by sector, to the Scottish economy for the last three years, including any relevant statistics.

Mr John Home Robertson: The value of landings in Scotland by Scottish registered vessels by the inshore fleet (defined as vessels under 10m in length, creelers, nephrops trawlers and 10-15m line boats) was £46.1 million in 1998, £46.2 million in 1997 and £45.2 million in 1996. By sector, shellfish contributed 93% of the total and demersal species 7%.

Highlands and Islands

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has held with MSPs and representatives of local authorities to ensure the continuation of the Highlands and Islands Convention, and when it expects to be able to announce the membership of the Convention.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: The future of the Highlands and Islands Convention is currently under consideration and an announcement will be made in due course. The views previously expressed by the Convention as to its future are being taken into account.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest estimate is of the number of houses in Scotland which suffer from dampness and whether it will publish a table showing the numbers in each local authority area.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The 1996 Scottish House Condition Survey estimated that 534,000 houses were affected to some extent by dampness or condensation, of which 91,000 houses were estimated as having both dampness and condensation and 84,000 were estimated as having dampness only. These estimates are not available by local authority area. Most local authorities include estimates in their annual returns of the incidence of dampness in their own stock, but information about dampness in other sectors of the housing stock is not collected routinely.

Information

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has communicated any general guidance on the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information to the public bodies listed in Schedule 1 of the Code or other affected bodies; if so, whether it will place a copy of this guidance in the information centre and, if not, why not.

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a definition of the "confidential communications" referred to in the section headed "Communications with the Royal Household" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and, in particular, whether communications regarding costs are included or excluded from this definition and, if included, what its justification is for this definition.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1533.

Information

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will amend Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information by deleting the words "including those" from the section headed "Public employment, public appointments and honours" and whether it will make a statement explaining its choice of wording.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information is based closely on the UK Government's Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. The Code was introduced in this form to ensure that openness arrangements were in place from 1 July 1999. As the Code represents an interim measure pending legislation on freedom of information (the proposals for which will be the subject of wide consultation), no amendments to the Code are currently being considered. We will however be monitoring the operation of the Code and will present a report to Parliament next year.

Information

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will delete the word "unwarranted" from the section headed "Privacy of an individual" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and, if not, whether it will provide examples of the type of disclosures which it would regard as (a) warranted and (b) unwarranted.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1537.

Information

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a definition of the words "personal information" as used in the section headed "Privacy of an individual" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and whether it will provide examples of what type of information about a person would not be regarded as "personal information".

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1533.

Information

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will delete the word "unwarranted" from the section headed "Third party’s commercial confidence" in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and, if not, whether it will provide examples of the type of disclosures which it would regard as (a) warranted and (b) unwarranted.

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will delete the words "risk or" from the second paragraph in part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information and, if it will not, whether it will state its justification for information being kept secret where there is only a risk of harm or prejudice.

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will amend Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information by deleting the word "could" from paragraph (a) of the section headed "Effective management and operations of the public service" and replacing it with the word "would" or other wording which will not allow information to be kept secret where there is only a possibility that improper gain or advantage or prejudice will result and whether it will make a statement explaining its choice of wording.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-1537.

Justice

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review the law relating to the granting of security over moveable property.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive recognises that there is a perception that businesses in Scotland are being inhibited in raising capital because, under Scots law, they cannot create a security over moveable property without giving up possession of that property. In addition, although the mechanism of floating charges is used extensively by companies in Scotland to obtain finance, it is thought to have some disadvantages. In certain circumstances, the floating charge holder may receive less than the debt owed to him. The Scottish Executive also acknowledges that this is an extremely complex issue.

  Consequently, the Scottish Executive has decided to commission research into the matter. This will determine the extent of problems being faced by Scottish businesses.

  The intention is that the research would be completed by the end of year 2000 and that it would inform the preparation of policy proposals, which would be the subject of consultation in the following year.

  By taking this issue forward in a considered manner, the Scottish Executive hopes that a solution will be found that will provide benefit to businesses operating in Scotland.

Planning

Mrs Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it intends to take to introduce measures to amend current Town and Country Planning legislation, in light of the recent successful appeal of developers against the refusal of planning permission to build on Corstorphine Hill, Edinburgh.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has no current plans to amend Town and Country Planning legislation in light of the recent appeal against the refusal of planning permission for development of the Craigcrook Road site on Corstorphine Hill.

Planning

Mrs Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to publish a summary of the responses to the 1997 Consultation Paper Land Use Planning Under a Scottish Parliament.

Sarah Boyack: The consultation paper was published in January 1999 and comments were sought by 31 March 1999. Some 130 responses were received. I expect to publish a summary of the responses by the end of October.

Poverty

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of the number of children who are living in families at poverty level and whether it will publish a table showing the numbers in each local authority area.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The problem of poverty is not restricted to limited income, although this is a commonly used measure. According to data from the Family Resources Survey for 1996-97 and the subsequent Households Below Average Income analysis, approximately 300,000 children in Scotland were living in households with less than 50% of average Great Britain household income. There are currently no corresponding figures available at Local Authority area level.

Rural Affairs

Alex Fergusson (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many farmers in Scotland have been required to repay sheep annual premium because of incorrect record keeping when, on inspection, sheep numbers were higher than claimed for, in 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Ross Finnie: Under the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Sheep Annual Premium (SAP) Schemes, a total of 153 producers have had premium withheld, or been asked to repay subsidy payments, because of inadequate flock record keeping. Of that total, 67 producers were found to have present on their holding (on the day of the inspection) numbers of sheep greater than that on which SAP had been claimed.

Transport

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why it has not yet met with the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce in order to discuss their concerns about existing and future transport infrastructure development.

Sarah Boyack: I am meeting a wide range of interested parties to discuss transport issues and will be arranging a discussion with Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review ports and rail freight facilities grants in Scotland; whether it will extend freight facilities grants to shipping, and how those plans would interact with an east coast ferry port for Scotland.

Sarah Boyack: The rail Freight Facilities Grant scheme is executively devolved to Scottish Ministers. At present, there are no plans to review the scheme, for which £6.1 million per annum has been allocated for the next three years.

  The U.K. Government intends to consult later this year on its intention to extend Freight Facilities Grant to coastal and short sea shipping movements. The Scottish Executive will be fully involved in this consultation. I would expect any extended scheme to apply to all British ports.

Transport

Colin Campbell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the provision of rural bus routes in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde.

Sarah Boyack: The provision of local bus services in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde is a matter for the commercial judgement of individual bus operators and for local authorities where they identify a social need. The Scottish Executive recognises that in rural areas bus services can provide a very real lifeline. Support via our Rural Transport Funding package has been provided to Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Councils to help local authorities to provide additional public transport services which could not be provided commercially.